Hi Koan -- RE PDL you were saying "I actually think someone will take them out long before that."
Probably will not happen unless this guy gets an offer he cannot refuse:
Besides the usual management and friends, a large block of PDL is held by one company that has maintained an equity interest since at least 1996.
The company is KFOC, which is Kaiser-Francis Oil Co.
kfoc.net
This is the somewhat ambiguous KFOC referred to in PDL documents such as the investor presentation now being used for conferences.
KFOC is a family deal, but there is one patriarch -- a Tulsa independent oil kingpin named George B. Kaiser. He has played a key role in obtaining financing for the company since at least 1996, has his OWN GUY on the board, and he and his family control 46.58 percent of the stock!
This guy is a true kingpin. Forbes has him as the 27th richest human on planet earth as of 2006, worth about $8 billion. So if PDL gets taken out, Francis could do it on his own, probably in cash. Or just buy more stock and take majority control! Or, as I prefer to think, North American Palladium is his baby. He likes nurturing it, and he sure as hell ain't gonna give it away.
forbes.com
Interesting to me that one needs palladium for two highly important future energy transactions -- cold fusion and more immediately, fuel cells. And here is this wildcatter who basically calls the shots at PDL from Tulsa! I love it!
Kaiser and family members had 48 percent prior to the December PP of more PDL stock. They did choose to exercise their right to buy more stock, keeping their percentage at roughly the same level as before.
Francis' inside man at PDL is Steven R. Berlin, who was a vp of Kaiser-Francis Oil Company until January 2006, has been a director of PDL since 2001.
Total Shares Outstanding: 79,271,000
Market Capitalization: $535.87M
Even though there are nearly 80 million PAL PDL shares outstanding, the float is much smaller. I would say high 30 millions. |
